Reef's Herb Garden

[tinyfish]

Nothing like fresh herbs and veggies for cooking.

 

[ckreef]

This weekend got the stones finished and the herb area done. Bought a few herbs to start it out. Here's a few "rain" pictures.

Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT

[MacKenzie]

ck and sk, wow, you sure have made a lot of progress on the herb garden, looks wonderful.   

[Geo]

That came out G-R-E-A-T! So very inviting and practical!

[ckreef]

We are very pleased with the way it's turning out. We do have a few more ideas to implement over the next few weeks which should be fun.

Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT

[Rak]

Very nice job.  It looks great!

[Firemonkey]

Wow!  That's a great looking herb garden.   You've got plenty of room in there for all kinds of container crops.  Maybe an earthbox or two?   (I won't suggest homemade self watering buckets since it's the front yard  )

I went purely functional with my herbs/greens.  Hid them beside the shed in the same footprint as my extension ladder, which hangs below the gutters.  This keeps the edibles up away from the rabbits and other thieves.  

[ckreef]

Nice herb garden Firemonkey. You got a whole lot packed in there.

Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT

[tinyfish]

@firemonkey great setup for the herbs.

[MacKenzie]

Firemonkey, I love the gutter idea, it is brilliant.   

[ckreef]

Firemonkey, I love the gutter idea, it is brilliant.   

I like the gutter idea too - that was brilliant.

Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT

[cschaaf]

I might have to try those gutters!

I tried a large self-watering bin for tomatoes 2 summers ago and 2 plants resulted in 0 usable tomatoes. I need to figure out something. I'm so tired of the garbage grocery store tomatoes.

 

[Firemonkey]

I've been impressed with how well the gutters worked, and how much you can grow in such a small footprint and what was basically unused space.  All that white vinyl fence used to be wooden privacy fence - if it still was I would have 3-4 rows of gutter all over it.   Those are 6" aluminum gutter, so basically anything you can grow in a 5-6" pot will grow in there.   I'm thinking about putting another  few sections somewhere else in the yard for strawberries.   

Automatic irrigation of some sort is pretty much a necessity with the gutters, or they will dry out and you'll be out there with a hose daily once it warms up.  Mine are filled with moisture control potting mix, and get saturated (holes drilled in bottoms for drainage) every other day right now.   If you can keep them wet automatically, they are zero maintenance growing machines.  Lots of killer ideas out there if you google for "gutter garden".

@cschaaf That sucks that you didn't get any usable tomatoes.  The plants in the self watering pots i built from the FireHouse pickle buckets produced like crazy - especially the eggplants.  The tomatoes were all heirloom varieties, hence they get really long and out of control, and eventually start dying off.  This winter, I tried something new, and just took 8-10" clippings from a couple of the better producing plants, and stuck them in a little pot of dirt.  Sure enough, in a few weeks they rooted so when I took the buckets apart to replant a fresh crop, the clippings became my spring tomato crop.   I also just pruned back the eggplants and they took off again with new growth.  

I LOVE the self watering buckets.  They're ugly, but I can move them to various "out of the way" spots in the yard based on seasonal sunlight differences and plant needs.  The key is using good, loose, well draining but spongy potting mix.  Mix some organic fertilizer into the soil at planting (and add a little lime for tomatoes) and then just keep the bottom bucket filled with water through the pipe on top.  

[kjs]

Really nice herb garden.

[Firemonkey]

Here's the clippings and pruned off plants from a couple months back.  Already fruiting.  $4 donation for 2 food grade buckets is the best bargain ever   

I moved all these to the south side of the house for winter after I reset them... More sun and they're more hidden over there too  

Now, how do I get Mr Reef down here to lay a flagstone hardscape around my fire pit  

[ckreef]

Now, how do I get Mr Reef down here to lay a flagstone hardscape around my fire pit  

Very nice. Now I remember - you live in FL not to far from my sister's house. I might be willing sometime to visit for a day or two and get some flag stones laid down. My 14' x 14' area was really just one days work even though I split it over 2 days. My sister is planning to visit this summer but I usually go to her house once a year. Maybe early fall this year. I'll let you know.

Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT

[cschaaf]

I love the Firehouse buckets. I probably have 20 of them for odds and ends. Some to store lump, some for tools, etc. The only issue is when I pick them up at lunch and leave them in my car in the 100-degree summer. My car smells like pickles for weeks after that. lol

I used a big storage bin for my failed attempt. 

 

[Firemonkey]

Did you use nested bins to make a true self watering container (with a reservoir in the bottom,  or just plant in a bin full of soil?

these are nested.  The top bucket has drainage holes, and a "mesh pot" (home made with a Dremel and plastic cup) that hangs down to the bottom of the bottom bucket. The pvc pipe allows the bottom bucket (the reservoir) to be filled.  

[ckreef]

First customer of the year.

.

Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT

[MacKenzie]

Lucky you, ck, to have the hummingbirds so early. I won't likely see mine until about the end of the first week of May. AND look at those flowers. :):):)

Edited March 30, 2016 by MacKenzie